I write to you in your capacity as chairperson of the American Polygraph Association (APA)’s Ethics & Grievance Committee to bring to your attention misconduct by Edward I. Gelb of Los Angeles, a past president of the APA, who I believe remains a member.

However, AntiPolygraph.org has assembled compelling evidence that Mr. Gelb never received a doctoral degree from any accredited university. The comprehensive Dissertation Abstracts database (the definitive worldwide collection of doctoral dissertations including over 1.6 million records dating back to 1861) includes no doctoral dissertation by an Edward Gelb.

AntiPolygraph.org has obtained a copy of Gelb’s resume (see attachment) that was included in court documents filed in a civil suit in 2002. Writing about himself in the third person, here is what Gelb says about his educational background: “Dr. Gelb was educated at the University of Southern California, LaSalle University and U.C.L.A.. He has been awarded a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in psychology.”

Gelb doesn’t state where or when he earned which degree. Perhaps he wished the court to infer that he listed the universities in the same order that he listed his degrees and that he earned a bachelor’s degree at USC, a master’s degree at LaSalle, and a doctorate at UCLA. But this is certainly not the case. Had Gelb earned his Ph.D. at UCLA (or USC), his dissertation would surely be included in the Dissertation Abstracts database. That leaves LaSalle University. There is a legitimate institution of higher learning called LaSalle University in Philadelphia, but it awarded its first Ph.D. degree of any kind in 2002, years after Gelb began putting the letters “Ph.D.” after his name. Mr. Gelb did not earn a doctoral degree there.

The “LaSalle University” that awarded Gelb his “doctorate” is a defunct, unaccredited diploma mill in Mandeville, Louisiana that was owned and operated by one Thomas James Kirk, A.K.A. Thomas McPherson. In 1996, LaSalle was raided by the FBI, and in 1997 Kirk pled guilty to federal fraud charges.

On 2 May 2006, the city council of Long Beach, California voted to approve a $150,000 one-year, extensible contract with Mr. Gelb’s company, Intercept, Inc., to provide polygraph services to the Long Beach Police Department. Mr. Gelb’s misrepresentation of himself as a Ph.D. may have unduly influenced Long Beach officials’ decision making in awarding this contract. Mr. Gelb’s claim to academic honors he has not earned gives him an unfair competitive edge over those who do not fraudulently claim to have doctoral degrees and misleads the public.

I trust that you will promptly investigate this matter, and I look forward to receiving, in accordance with section 9.1.1.5 of the APA bylaws, notification from the General Chair “of whether disciplinary action was taken.”

Sincerely,

George W. MaschkeAntiPolygraph.org

PS: A copy of this complaint will be made available on AntiPolygraph.org.

Enclosure:Resume of Edward I. Gelb

The letter of complaint, sent as a PDF attachment, may be downloaded here:

If a police applicant lied about his/her academic credentials, and was caught, would he/she be hired? I hope not.

Last Tuesday, May 2nd, the City Council voted to approve funding for a $150,000 one-year extensible contract with Intercept, Inc. (http://www.polygraphexpert.com) to provide polygraph services to the Police Department. The owner of this company, Edward I. Gelb, holds himself out to the public as a Ph.D. in marketing his polygraph services to clients, including the LBPD.

But Gelb is lying about his academic credentials. He never received a doctorate from any accredited university. Instead, he obtained his "Ph.D." from a mail-order diploma mill that years ago was shut down by the federal government. By representing himself as a Ph.D., he is committing a fraud against the public, including the taxpayers of Long Beach. For documentation, see:

To date, I have received no reply to my ethics complaint against Ed Gelb. In fact, Donald Weinstein, the chairperson of the American Polygraph Association's Ethics & Grievance committee, has not even acknowledged receipt of my complaint.

However, as of today, Gelb still styles himself a Ph.D. on his website:

The APA's ultimate action or lack of action on this complaint will be instructive. If the APA is unwilling to hold accountable one of its senior members who has falsely represented his academic credentials to the courts, to law enforcement agencies, and the public at large to boost his business, then the APA has no business talking about ethics.

Indeed, should the APA fail to take disciplinary action against Mr. Gelb, it will in effect be saying "it's okay for APA members to wilfully misrepresent their academic credentials to the courts, to law enforcement agencies, and to the public at large." I don't see how any intellectually honest person could reconcile such a position with the APA's motto, "Dedicated to Truth."

The American Polygraph Association (APA) has replied to my ethics complaint against Edward I. Gelb of Los Angeles. APA General Counsel Gordon L. Vaughan, in a letter dated 9 June 2006, writes that Gelb will face no disciplinary action for falsely holding himself out to the public as a Ph.D. Vaughan writes that "the APA does not attempt nor does it presume to govern the designation of titles or degrees conferred upon members."

As of the date of Vaughan's letter, the APA had apparently neither confirmed or disconfirmed the allegations in my complaint. However, Vaughan does report that the APA has requested that Gelb document his "Ph.D." degree. If he is unable to show that it is from an accredited institution, then the only sanction he will face is that the APA will not accept "advertisements, publications, or directory listings" that refer to him as a Ph.D. But as far as the APA is concerned, Gelb is free to continue deceiving the public.

The full text of the APA's reply follows:

Quote:

June 9, 2006

George W. MaschkeHart Nibbrigkade 222597 XV The HagueThe Netherlands

Dear Mr. Maschke:

We are in receipt of your letter requesting a grievance investigation against Edward Gelb. In that letter, you state your belief that Mr. Gelb is falsely holding himself out as having earned a Ph.D. from an accredited university or institution, and request that this matter be investigated.1

Please be advised that the APA has adopted a resolution for dealing with problems of this sort:

"Be it resolved that, the American Polygraph Association does not endorse or recognize diplomas or degrees from post secondary courses of education not accredited by an accrediting body routinely accepted within the academic community or appropriate government entity at the time of the award.

The APA will not accept advertisements, publications or directory listings, which include a reference or title representing a diploma or degree from a post secondary course of education not so accredited.

The APA understands that in some cases, such as countries which do not have accrediting organizations, this position may be overly restrictive. Accordingly, a member may seek exception from this position by presentation to the APA Board of Directors, evidence supporting completion of academic achievement supporting the award of such diploma or degree that would be routinely accepted within the academic community.

The APA Board of Directors directs that should there be a question of whether a reference to a title or degree, [sic] a member may be required to produce evidence that their diploma or degree meets the requirements of this resolution before acceptance of any advertisement, publication or directory listing which includes a reference to such diploma or degree."

Consistent with the above resolution, the APA has requested that Mr. Gelb provide information on whether his Ph.D. meets the requirements of this resolution. If not, the APA will not list Mr. Gelb by his Ph.D. nor will it accept an advertisement or item for publication in any of its publications which references Mr. Gelb by his Ph.D. This step is in no way disciplinary nor intended to discredit Mr. Gelb, who has provided many years of dedicated service to the American Polygraph Association and the polygraph profession.

Beyond these measures, the APA does not attempt nor does it presume to govern the designation of titles or degrees conferred upon its members. No further action will be taken as to your grievance.

1 Your reputation as an opponent to polygraph is, of course, well known and, as such, in applying to an organization that promotes the science and profession of polygraph your agenda is likely personal and not an effort to further professionalism within the organization. Nevertheless, I address the issue raised in your grievance.

A scanned PDF file of the original two-page letter, on APA letterhead bearing the motto "DEDICATED TO TRUTH" may be downloaded here:

1) I do not allege that Gelb has explicitly stated that his "Ph.D." degree is from an accredited university or institution. Rather, through his resume provided to a U.S. court, his public representations, and his advertising of his polygraph services, Gelb has striven to create the false and misleading impression that he holds a legitimate Ph.D. degree.

2) As for Vaughan's footnote impugning my motivation for filing this complaint, I would think that an organization "dedicated to truth" should be happy to receive information on unethical conduct from any member of the public with knowledge thereof. Indeed, the APA website clearly states, "The Ethics and Grievance Committee receives and expeditiously, fairly and impartially investigates all allegations of misconduct against members of this Association." If this is true, then a complainant's status as a polygraph supporter or opponent should be completely irrelevant.

2) As for Vaughan's footnote impugning my motivation for filing this complaint, I would think that an organization "dedicated to truth" should be happy to receive information on unethical conduct from any member of the public with knowledge thereof. Indeed, the APA website clearly states, "The Ethics and Grievance Committee receives and expeditiously, fairly and impartially investigates all allegations of misconduct against members of this Association." If this is true, then a complainant's status as a polygraph supporter or opponent should be completely irrelevant.

It is awful kind of them to go ahead and respond to your complaint, even though you are an opponent. Apparently, only exponents of the polygraph can make legitimate complaints. I wonder how many complaints they ignore completely?

Very few members of the American Polygraph Association -- and none of its directors -- hold Ph.D. degrees. I can think of four members who hold doctoral degrees: Gordon Barland, Louis Rovner, Frank Horvath, and Stuart Senter, who currently edits the APA journal -- all well-known figures in the polygraph community. I wonder what they think about the APA's decision that Gelb's fakery merits no disciplinary action?

I guess every organization has it's problem child but for some reason or another has decided to put up with or ingnore the problem. Even worse, in many cases the problem child is rewarded. Strange phenomenon isn't it?

Certainly Gelb is a phony PhD, but no accreditation is needed to be a polygrapher. The APA may be the "accrediting" board for polygraphers but it by no means has any administrative or legal authority to revoke someone's ability to be a polygrapher. It merely provides a way of fooling consumers into thinking there is a true accrediting board. I could become a homeopathic doctor in mere minutes by filling out the "proper paperwork" and fool people into thinking that because I've been certified by a homeopathic governing board that I'm somehow practicing a viable alternative medicine rather than a dangerous pseudoscience.

If anything, Gelb should be sanctioned by the courts and other adminstrative bodies that he has testified in front of for perjury and/or false representation.

Unlike MDs, nurses, psychologists, and social workers who are licensed through the state, polygraphers do not have a true governing legal body which is enabled to revoke licenses or begin legal proceedings for fraud and misrepresentation.

Getting the APA to admit that one of their own is fraud will never happen. I still think the best course of action against this pseudoscience is to convince consumers (rather than practitioners) of this flapdoodle through research and science that it is a useless procedure that poses a tremendous risk to public safety.

In that regard, the NAS, Feinberg, yourself, Iacono, Furedy, Saxe, Crosse, and others are certainly providing enough evidence that the polygraph is useless. It's now time to challenge and convince the consumers of this junk that they need to stop using it because it causes more harm than good.

Trying to convince the APA that they're wrong is about as useful as talking to the taxman about poetry.

In view of the egregiousness of Gelb's unethical conduct, I think it would have been appropriate for the American Polygraph Association to expel him. As an alternative, it might have censured him and admonished him to cease and desist from falsely representing himself as a Ph.D. or face expulsion.

While the APA cannot revoke someone's ability to be a practicing polygrapher, it can set ethical standards for its membership. But it appears that the APA is unwilling to do so.

Despite the APA's unwillingness to take any disciplinary action against Mr. Gelb, I think the ethics complaint I filed has served a valuable purpose: that of showcasing the APA's fecklessness when it comes to setting ethical standards for its members. This is not something that the APA will be able to sweep under the rug. I'll be mentioning it to every journalist with whom I speak about polygraphy, and it will be prominently emphasized on AntiPolygraph.org for a long time to come, where it will be seen by potential purchasers of polygraph services.